Eventually
by Melancholy and Contradictions
Summary: Percy is struggling to find the antidote to the poison that seeps through his body. Will he get to it in time? Will it even cure him at all? Or will he die trying to get it? Let's find out shall we...- T for language and etc. Caution: Future Character Death and major Percy Whump.
1. Surprise!

**Current time: 7:08 am**

**Yes I have stayed up this long trying to get this fanfic for Percy Jackson out of my system. I LOVES the books and I just had to write something but I've been struggling with this for the past 7 hours. So I hope you all like it C: it's 1 052 words so I hope that long enough for you. I'm working on some stuff for The Hunger Games too, it's a SYOT so if you want to submit a tribute that'd be great :D I need a few more then I can actually start writing. **

**I hope you like it C: I'll update soon I promise ^_^**

"JASON LOOK OUT!" I called to him as an enemy snuck up behind him.

He turned and dodged the sword that swung down at him just before it could chop off his head. Jason then stabbed his opponent and carried on picking off other enemies.

I breathed out a sigh of relief but was brought back to the fight when a sword swung dangerously close to my face. I blinked and stumbled back, blocking the next swing from my opponent. I peered into the face hiding behind the helmet, trying to figure out who I was fighting, but the only thing that I could see was his eyes peering out at me and his clenched jaw.

They were bright and full of hatred, for me? Yeah probably. I know I've made enemies in the past, one of them the god of war himself, but these were demigods like me and I didn't understand their reason for attack. They were dangerously outnumbered by the combined forces of Camp Jupiter and Camp Halfblood but it was definitely a very well planned surprise attack.

This particular warrior had sought me out. I saw him make his way through the battle. Pushing aside people either his own or mine, it didn't seem to matter as long as he got to me. I was doing pretty well considering the curse from the Styx had lifted; I only had a few scratches. Then he started fighting me.

He was extremely strong, I already knew that when I saw his muscles bulging under his shirt as he walked towards me, but he was also very skilled and older than me by a few years. With moves I'd never seen before, he started stabbing and slashing at me with such fierce intensity I was forced backwards, away from my friends. I was trying to stay close in case they needed help, but this guy had other plans for me.

Our swords continued to clang and sparks flew as he brought his sword down at me again and again. All I could do was block over and over since his attacks came right after another giving me no time to land my own blows. My blade vibrated with every hit and made my whole arm shake.

"PERCY!" I heard Annabeth call; I let my eyes stray into the battle briefly, trying to find her. But this was my biggest mistake.

With both hands on the hilt of his blade, my opponent swung at me with full force and flung me off my feet. I was so absorbed with the fight; I hadn't noticed that he lead me to a small cliff with a ten foot drop. As soon as his sword bashed against mine, I was in the air. Falling; to me that was the most unsettling feeling as my stomach lurched and fear took a hold on me.

I yelled as I fell, my arms flapping about in a desperate action to slow my fall. It didn't work of course and I landed with a sickening crunch on rock, the wind knocked out of me and my sword clattered loudly out of my reach. I struggled to breathe with the pain of my cracked ribs and abused spine as I writhed on the cold stone. Looking around, I saw that I was only three feet from another drop I was sure would be ten times higher than this one.

I looked up and my opponent was there, standing at the edge. I expected him to turn around but he jumped off the edge and landed right on my lower legs. I heard the awful snaps and cracks of my bones breaking before the pain came in a painful wave and I screamed.

"Now you can't run away," he sneered. I saw him grin under his helmet as he proceeded to take out a syringe from within his armour with a dangerous green looking substance.

I scrambled backwards, using my arms to try and escape from him but it was no use. With him still standing on my legs, every tiny movement sent pain through my body. I gave up trying to get away and simply lay there in front of him, helpless.

He smirked at me, as if to say "Nice try you pathetic little shit," but I would show him no weakness no matter what that green stuff would do.

Oh how wrong I was. Thinking he was going to inject it into my arm I braced myself to punch him. But no, he went straight for my heart as he crouched over me, stabbing it right through my chest. I gasped as I felt the cold metal of the needle invade my body and made its way into my heart. It hurt going in and my heart thudded painfully but that was nothing compared to the pain as he slowly injected the liquid.

It was so cold it burned and I screamed and writhed in agony as it consumed my body. I could feel it seeping into the rest of my organs and muscles with each pump of my heart. My whole body convulsed and shivered as I cried out in pain.

That grin never left his face, and I swear I saw his eyes twinkle evilly with joy at the sight of my broken body. As soon as the entire syringe was empty, he roughly jerked out the needle and stood up. I gasped and yelled as his heels dug into my broken legs.

"We'll be back soon, Jackson. With more of us and a weakened you, it should be easy to take all your warriors," he said, finally stepping off of my legs to kick my ribs as he cackled.

I coughed and gripped my chest where he kicked me, still shivering, "What the heck was in that needle," I managed to choke out.

"Just a little slow acting poison, it'll ebb away for a bit then relapse twice was bad and eventually, it'll kill you. If I don't get you first that is," he said, his grin broadened showing all his perfectly white teeth. A rope was thrown over the side of the cliff and he climbed up with ease and disappeared over the edge, the rope disappeared with him.

"Shit," I said, moaning in agony. I clutched my chest as I lay there waiting for someone to come and help.

**So there it is so far, the first chapter. Poor Percy :P this is just the beginning. Come back soon for another update! Don't forget to review and don't be afraid to ask questions or PM me C: **

**Current time: 7:20**

**CRAP IT'S GETTING INCREDIBLY LATE. I slept in until 4 pm today-yesterday... -_-**

**BAD BAD KAT!**

**Sweet nightmares... **


	2. The Painful Wait

**Here's the next chapter C: I hope it's alright :P It took me a while to get it all out... It's a few hundred words longer than the last one :D **

**Enjoy ^_^**

I lay there for what felt like ages; just staring up at the sky as I breathed deeply, trying to slow my heart rate. My eyes were half closed and my mouth was just barely open. I kept on shivering as the poison took over me. After a while I started growing numb from the cold starting at my fingers and toes, slowly eating away at my body until I was completely paralyzed.

I couldn't move. All I could do was listen to the echoes coming from the battle above me. It pissed me off that I was useless. I shouldn't be lying on the ground I should be helping my friends. But no matter how much I tried to move, I could only twitch which made me curse silently.

Finally, after what felt like ages I saw Jason's face peer over the edge of the cliff, "He's over here!" I heard him call over his shoulder.

Annabeth's face joined his and she called out to me, "Percy! Percy are you ok?"

Unable to move any muscles, I remained silent except for the quiet, strangled sound that escaped my throat which frustrated me even more. There was no way that they heard that. Inside I was writhing with anger and frustration as I struggled against the paralysis that held my body still. I hated being stuck like this.

A rope was thrown over the cliff and Jason climbed down beside me.

"Hey, Percy can you hear me?" he asked, gently shaking my shoulder.

I managed to get out a strangled breath that made a soft gurgling noise and a look of horror came upon Jason's face. Annabeth dropped down beside Jason, "What's wrong with him?"

Carefully, she looked over me and I saw her eyes widen at the damage she saw.

"He's banged up pretty badly, we need to get him help fast," she said, standing up she grabbed the rope and slowly climbed her way back to the top of the cliff, disappearing over the edge.

"Hold on buddy," Jason said, gingerly patting my shoulder as he looked back up to where Annabeth disappeared with worry.

I coughed a bit and it brought his attention back to me. His worried expression bothered me, I didn't like having people worry about me but it was something you had to get used to when you were a demigod. I was so caught up with all the swear words in my mind that I didn't notice the iron taste in my mouth.

Jason gasped, "You're coughing up blood, ANNABETH!" he yelled up at the sky, but no one came. I coughed again and he started panicking when he turned to me and saw my blood trickling out of the corner of my mouth.

"Percy don't you die on me, don't you _dare!_" he yelled at me.

I managed a hoarse, gurgling moan to try and let him know that I wasn't going to die but he took this a sign of distress and started yelling for help like a maniac.

"ANNABETH! Help! Someone! ANYONE!" he screamed. Eventually he gave up and started climbing up the rope, "I'll be back just hold on Percy!" he yelled down at me.

That was easier said than done. As soon as he left my sight, I turned my eyes to the sky again and watched the clouds float by. A soft breeze blew over me and I breathed out a small sigh as it warmed my cold body.

It was then that I realized how exhausted I felt and my eyes slowly started to close. I blinked, alarmed that I was so close to passing out. I didn't know if I would wake up or not after closing my eyes and I struggled to keep them open. My head had hit the rock pretty hard and I was sure I at least had a concussion.

But I had much more than a concussion to worry about. With every breath pain stung in my chest and the more I needed to cough. As I struggled with my breathing I found that I was finally free of my paralysis and I clutched my shirt where the pain struck with every breath. My whole body ached and pain shot through it with every movement.

I moaned and rolled to my side as I coughed up more of the awful red liquid. It filled my mouth with its tangy, iron taste and its metallic smell filled my nose. I wheezed and I coughed again. A puddle of blood was starting to form in front of my face from coughing.

"PERCY!" I heard someone call. I turned and sighed with relief as I saw Annabeth and Jason making their way down on two pegasi where a stretcher sat between them. As soon as they landed, Annabeth leaped off the Pegasus and rushed towards me. I was still slumped over the slowly increasing pool of blood and she gently rolled me over.

I cried out in pain and Annabeth quickly let go of me. I lay on my back, gasping for air and coughing up blood, nearly choking on the stuff.

"No, no, no, no, no. Percy stay with me!" she said, her hands fluttered over me not knowing what to do.

"Annabeth we have to get him on the stretcher," Jason said urgently.

"He can't stand, his legs are broken," Annabeth pointed out.

"We'll have to carry him," he said. From his voice I could tell the idea wasn't one he wanted to use, but it was the only one and I wasn't very fond of it myself.

"I'm so, so sorry Percy if this hurts," Annabeth said as she moved by my head so she could grip my shoulders. The feeling of pins and needles erupted across my shoulder blades and I groaned.

Jason grabbed onto my legs just above my knee and they both lifted me. It was agonizing and I struggled to not scream out in pain. I regretted it when a strangled cry escaped my lips and I saw Annabeth's face.

"Almost there," Jason said as we approached the stretcher.

Finally they managed to get me strapped in but all the movement made my head spin and throb. I coughed again and stained the stretcher with red. It was taking all my willpower not pass out. I could see the darkness circle dangerously around the edges of my vision.

We took off and wind blew my hair away from my face. I was jostled between the two pegasi and my head flopped about with the jerking motions. A coughing fit attacked me and I spluttered as it racked my body. I could feel the warm, sticky substance cover my face and hands as I tried to wipe it away but I coughed harder and more poured out from my mouth. The taste of blood sickened me and I almost felt myself ready to puke but I held it down, determined not to make a bigger mess.

"Jason we have to hurry!" I heard Annabeth yell over the wind.

I felt us descend and we landed with a harsh thud that would've thrown me out of the stretcher if there weren't straps holding me down.

"Someone help!" Jason called out.

I heard the steady thumping of hooves and Chiron's blurry face appeared over mine.

"He's going to need heavy healing magic, and fast," I heard him say. At this point my hearing was starting to fail and their voices sounded muffled and slurred. My eyes weren't doing any better, the darkness was closing in fast and everyone's faces kept on going in and out of focus.

I tried to fight the urge to cough but I gave in and it came out in massive globs nearly suffocating me. When it passed I shivered and cried out as a tremor of pain shook me. I looked down and saw that someone had grabbed my feet and I thrashed about, trying to free them of the grasp which only made the pain worse.

"Please stop... Stop... Let it all stop already!" I said, my gurgling cry didn't seem to have any effect at all.

I could barely hear everyone's voices but I knew they were all shouting at me by the looks on their blurry faces. Then darkness took me so quickly it almost scared me, as if someone had put a sack over my head.

But it was nice. I didn't hurt anymore and I peacefully floated about in this world of darkness.

**So there is, I hoped you all liked it C: I'd REALLY like some reviews guys :/ **

**Is this ok? Do you like it? Every bit? Or does it stink like a sweaty armpit? Does this make you sad? Or make you mad? Or are you glad? Is it stupid like a clown? Does it make you frown? Or bring you down? Or is it bright and wonderful like a crown? Are you grumbling at how lame it is? I am no writing whiz, though I do try so very hard! But as you can see I am no bard... Do you think of me as a poor excuse of a writer or am I just a pathetic babbler? Please don't be bitter, I'm doing my best! Can you help me with my quest? I wish to be a writer but hear my plea, and answer these questions for me.**


	3. Antidote

I woke up abruptly in an unfamiliar bed. I didn't know what it was that brought me back to consciousness so quickly but I gasped and my eyes flew open as I sat up. Maybe it was all the talking that crashed down on my ears or the bright light that glared down at me, the room was full of people. Either way, I was awake and pain brutally hit me in the chest. I doubled over, panting and struggling to get enough air into my lungs as I gripped my shirt tightly. I was covered in a cold sweat and I shivered.

"Percy! Percy are you ok?" Annabeth asked, rushing to my side.

"It hurts, shit it hurts," I whispered, clawing at my heart where it hurt the most.

To be honest my entire body ached from the fall I took earlier. My legs up to just below my knees were covered in casts and I gingerly moved one. To my relief there was no pain in at least that part of me. The rest however ached and I could feel the bruises all along my back.

"I know it does Percy. You broke a lot and one of your ribs punctured your lung," she explained.

"Yeah we almost lost you twice," Jason said, making his way over.

"Tell them to shut up please," I choked out, all the talking was making my head throb painfully.

Immediately, Jason shoved everyone out of the room and it was finally quiet. I relaxed a bit but still kept a firm grip on my shirt. I was aware of the thickness I felt under my shirt where a bandage was wrapped firmly around me.

With each beat of my heart, pain shot through my chest like shards of glass and it still hurt to breathe in and out.

"Percy?" Annabeth asked, "What's wrong?"

"I'm so cold," I muttered as I shivered violently.

She draped a blanket over me and I nodded my thanks even though it didn't make much of a difference.

"What happened?" Jason asked.

"H-he pushed me..." I choked out, "I-I fell over the cliff..."

"We know that much already," a voice said. I looked up to see Chiron in the doorway, his horse half concealed in his wheelchair.

He paused there for a moment, studying me with those eyes of his. Eyes that have seen many things seemed to stare into my soul. He rolled his wheelchair over to my bedside and took out a stethoscope.

"Lie down," he instructed.

I lay down on the soft bed as he gently put the stethoscope to my chest, listening to my heartbeat and my breathing. I was so cold that the stethoscope felt warm against my skin. I uttered a little cough despite my desperate attempt not to.

"It's alright, cough," he said gently.

I coughed and it racked my frail body. My weak lungs ached from the sudden movement and I rasped. I breathy groan escaped my lips.

"Both your breathing and heart rate are irregular," he said, his eyebrows knit together with worry.

He lifted my shirt and Annabeth and Jason gasped.

"He should NOT be that colour," Annabeth whispered.

I was too tired to lift my head and ask what was going on so I just lay there and listened.

"Poison..." Chiron breathed.

"It's spreading; the poison it's spreading isn't it?" Jason asked, turning his gaze to Chiron.

"Unfortunately you're right Jason. This isn't any ordinary poison either," Chiron said with a sad sigh.

"Please tell me there's an antidote?" Annabeth begged.

"There are only two ways that can remove the poison," Chiron started, "The simpler of the two is for him to become a god but convincing Zeus of such a thing is going to be extremely difficult."

"What's the other cure?" Jason asked.

"Well, in order to obtain this poison you first must have an antidote. Whoever poisoned Percy must have it," Chiron explained.

"Chiron, do you even know what kind of poison this is?" Annabeth asked.

He turned solemnly towards her, "Annabeth this is strong enough to weaken any god. The symptoms will disappear but they'll relapse twice as hard. With a dose this large I'd say he only has a week at the most left until-"

"I die."


	4. Sounds like a Plan

**There, another chapter that 200 words longer than the last one C: I decided to treat you guys with two in one day :D I hope it's alright.**

"No, no Percy don't say that! We'll find the cure," Annabeth said with tears in her eyes.

I instantly regretted announcing my death so frankly. I didn't even realize how apathetic I sounded until I saw her face. Guilt welled up inside me as our eyes met.

"Yeah, seriously we can't give up now. At least we have a lead on where to look," Jason said.

Chiron turned to the two of them, "Do either you two know where those demigods came from?"

"Yes actually," Annabeth replied, "After I left Percy with Jason one of them confronted me before they disappeared. He was the one who pushed you over the cliff," she said, turning to me.

"So that's why you took so long. What did he tell you?" Jason asked.

"'If it doesn't kill him first, we'll be back to finish him off and if you're desperate enough, come visit us to the northwest on a salty, spring evening.'" she quoted.

"Northwest?" Jason asked.

"On a salty spring evening?" I repeated. It sounded bizarre to me.

"Why on a salty spring, evening? It's the middle of summer, spring isn't until next year," Jason said, he seemed to be just as confused as the rest of us.

Then it hit me. My mom had been planning on going there for a holiday, "British Columbia," I muttered.

"British what?" Jason asked.

"British Columbia, it's a province in Canada," Annabeth explained.

"What does a salty spring evening have to do with British Columbia?" Jason asked.

"There's an island called Saltspring there," I replied. I looked up at her and I saw her smile, glowing with hope.

"They're camp is to the northwest on Saltspring Island, BC, Canada," she said, putting it all together.

I smiled at her, proud to have a girlfriend who was so damn smart.

"We need to go then," I said.

"We?" Jason and Annabeth asked at the same time. They turned to me, surprised at how eager I sounded.

"Percy, not to bring you down or anything, but in case you haven't noticed you have two broken legs," Jason pointed out.

"He's right though," Chiron pointed out, "If the two of you go he might be gone by the time you get back. This quest might take longer than you think."

At this, Annabeth grabbed my hand and squeezed it. I squeezed back and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Then we'll go, the three of us," she said.

"How is Percy going to get around then?" Jason asked.

"His legs should be healed enough for him to at least stand on them, crutches should work," Chiron said.

After being so focused on the conversation I didn't realize that the pain was gone, all of it. I coughed a little and cleared my throat and I felt fine.

"Percy, you ok?" Annabeth asked, worry etched on her face again as she studied me.

"Yeah, actually I feel a lot better," I said, laughing a little. I was glad she could stop worrying for now. Her face relaxed into a relieved smile and she gave me a warm hug. It felt nice and I hugged her back.

"It's wearing off," Chiron observed, "Be extremely careful when you're out there," he told me.

"I will," though it would probably turn into a lie. Sometimes no matter how careful you are it doesn't make a difference to what happens.

"You should have some ambrosia and nectar Percy," Chiron said, "It might slow the poison from spreading. I'll give you some for the journey; you should take it every so often. Jason could you go grab some?"

"Alright," I sighed. Jason left the room as I settled into the cushions.

"But remember not too much or you-"

"I'll spontaneously combust, I got it," I said.

Chiron smiled, "Make sure you come back alive Percy."

Jason returned with a glass of nectar, a square of ambrosia and a pair of crutches tucked under his arm.

"Here," he said, handing me the glass and ambrosia as he leaned the crutches against my bed.

The ambrosia was small enough to fit completely in my mouth as I popped it in and started chewing. As soon as I'd finished it I downed the nectar, not realizing how thirsty I was until I started drinking.

After eating and drinking the food of the gods I felt better than ever. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and set my feet on the floor as Annabeth handed me the crutches and I slowly stood up. Both she and Jason stood at the ready in case I fell. I wobbled a bit but felt no pain as my weight spread evenly between my feet. Grabbing the crutches, I cautiously stepped forward.

"Careful don't push yourself," Annabeth warned me.

I turned to her and smiled, "It's ok, I'm fine."

I started walking around the room and she hovered around me.

"Do you really need those crutches? You seem fine," Jason remarked.

"Yeah, to be honest they're not helping me at all," I said, putting them aside.

I began walking around again. With only a slight limp I could walk on my own and Annabeth stopped hovering.

Chiron smiled, "You seem fit enough for travel at least."

"Great then let's get going," I said.

Annabeth laughed as she walked over and gave me a kiss. I kissed her back and smiled, "I'm fine, really."

"Better stay this way until we get to Saltspring, Seaweed brain."

**There might be another chapter later on if I get lucky with time. I've gone and done an all nighter writing. I hope its good enough C: School starts tomorrow (fml the end of the world has come early) and so I must unfortunately say that updates will take longer. I apologize for any future delays on updates. **

**Sweet Nightmares...**


	5. Leaving

**1 405 words. ONE THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED AND FIVE WORDS. Now THAT is a god length for a chapter ^_^**

**I hope this'll satisfy you all for the moment. Check back soon for another update C:**

"Do I _have_ to use these?" I grumbled as I leaned back in my chair. Chiron had insisted that I use forearm crutches just in case, but to me it was more of a nuisance.

"Percy it's just in case you need them," Annabeth said gently.

"Hey, we should use them to our advantage," Jason said excitedly, with a mischievous grin on his face.

I laughed, "Yeah maybe."

The three of us were hunched over maps, trying to find the fastest route into Canada. We'd already spent a good half hour arguing about it. Sea travel was ruled out almost immediately to my dismay and Annabeth just started spewing reasons why we couldn't when I even suggested it.

"We can try and take a bus from here to Medford in Oregon," Jason pointed out.

"That's too far," she said, "I think our best shot is getting to at least Redding by today."

"Let's get on it then," I said, standing up.

"Ok let's meet back here after packing," Jason announced.

"I'll go explain the plan to Chiron," Annabeth said, leaving the room.

I sighed, content that this plan seemed simple enough. We would take buses from city to city, slowly making our way up north through Oregon and Washington. I was disappointed that we couldn't just use a boat. It'd probably be faster too but for some reason Annabeth seemed hell bent on going through the states. Even though it seemed simple, somewhere in the back of my mind knew that it definitely wouldn't.

"Hey, you ok?" Jason asked me, interrupting my thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said smiling, "I'm a bit pissed that we can't just take a boat."

"Annabeth has her reasons," Jason said, packing up the maps.

"They were stupid reasons though. I'm definitely not going to fall overboard and if I did it's not like I would die."

"Yeah, I know. The sea water would probably help you."

"My point!" I said, throwing my arms into the air.

"I think she's just worried that if you get worse she won't be able to help you. She knows architecture, buildings and such. Despite everything she knows, I doubt she has a lot about sea travel locked away in that brain of hers," Jason explained.

I sighed, "Yeah, I guess I see her point now."

"Don't worry about it," Jason told me with a smile, "We'll be fine."

I snorted, "Now that's an overstatement."

"Yeah probably," he said, laughing.

Grabbing my crutches I got up and left the room, heading for the fifth cohort. As soon as I walked in, cheers crashed down on my ears.

'YOU'RE ALIVE!" Frank yelled, and he hugged me tightly.

"We'd thought you were doomed," someone else said.

"We're glad you're better Percy!" another shouted.

Hazel elbowed her way to me and smiled, "Thank the gods you're alright. You really scared us back there."

I laughed, "Can't die yet there are things to do."

"Soon Percy," a quiet voice said. I turned and saw Octavian walk by the open door with an evil grin on his face. Apparently no one else heard, they were too busy talking over each other.

"Percy, why do you have crutches?" someone asked.

I pointed to my feet and lifted my pant legs, showing my bandaged feet.

"You broke _both of them?_ How are you standing?"

I simply shrugged and smiled, "Ambrosia and nectar can do a lot."

Many of them stared at me with awe, "I've always wanted to try that stuff."

I raised my eyebrows; apparently not many of them have needed it which was a good sign. Even though I'd been here for a while, there were some things I still didn't know.

I turned to Hazel and Frank, "Can I talk to you two?"

They both nodded and we walked around behind the building.

"What is it Percy?" Hazel said, crossing her arms.

"I'm going on a quest with Annabeth and Jason."

"What? Why?" Frank asked.

"We're going to try and find out why those other demigods attacked us," I explained.

"Do you even know where their camp is?" Frank said, raising an eyebrow at me.

"It's in Canada," I said.

"Hey I'm Canadian! Why can't I come?"

"Because I need you two to stay here and help with things. Those demigods broke a lot of stuff," I explained, "Reyna is going to need as much help she can get."

Hazel studied my face, sensing my discomfort. I didn't like lying to my friends but I didn't want these two to come after me.

"There's something you're not telling us," she said.

"Annabeth, Jason, and I are just going to go and figure out what they're up to. Then we're coming straight back," I insisted. Inside my head I pleaded that she'd let it go.

"Alright then," she said. I could tell she didn't believe me.

I breathed out, relieved that at least I'd convinced them to stay put.

"I need to go pack, I'm leaving today," I said, "I'll see you guys later, ok?"

"'Kay, see ya Percy," Frank said, "Don't leave without saying goodbye!"

I laughed, "I'll try."

Eventually after a few minutes I'd managed to locate my battered old back pack and started filling it. I found an extra change of clothes and a flashlight and lazily threw it all in. Then I paused, what else would I need? Searching the pockets of the bag, I found ten drachmas and an empty Ziploc bag. Realizing there was nothing else I really needed I slung the pack over one shoulder and headed back to meet up with Annabeth and Jason.

Annabeth was already waiting for me when I got to our rendezvous.

"Got everything?" she asked.

"Yeah I think so. There wasn't much to pack," I said.

"Same, I've only got an extra pair of clothes and that's basically it."

"I found ten drachmas in my pack."

"Really? Nice find! I only found one at the very bottom of mine."

I heard footsteps behind me and I turned around to see Jason.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yeah let's find Chiron," I said.

He was providing the rest of the things we needed. Like mortal money, nectar and ambrosia.

"Does Reyna know about this?" I suddenly remembered I hadn't seen her since the attack.

"Yeah Chiron was with her when I went to explain our plan," Annabeth said.

"She ok?" I asked.

"Yeah, a bit stressed I think. There's a lot to fix in the camp."

"How're those crutches working for you?" Jason asked.

"They're annoying," I said.

"Yeah well maybe we can get better seats on the bus because of them," he said mischievously.

We headed back to the conference room we were in when we planned out quest and found Chiron looking out the window when we walked in.

"You're packed and ready?" he asked, turning to us.

"Yes, all we need is some mortal money," Annabeth said.

"And Ambrosia and Nectar," I added.

"Ah yes," he said.

On the table was a large canteen of nectar and a box of ambrosia. Beside that was enough money to feed a family for two months.

"Do we really need that much?" I asked.

"I sense that this quest might be a bit pricey, but this should cover it," he explained.

"Thanks Chiron," Annabeth said as she grabbed the money and put it in her pack.

I took the canteen and ambrosia and dropped them in mine before turning back to Chiron.

"How much should I take and how often?"

"One mouthful of nectar at least once a day, three at the most and some ambrosia if you're feeling weak."

I nodded and turned to Jason and Annabeth.

"Ready?"

"Let's do this!" Jason yelled, fist pumping the air.

As soon as we walked out of the room, Reyna appeared around the corner.

"Be careful you three," she said.

"We will," Annabeth replied.

Reyna turned to me, "You better come back in once piece Percy. It'll be hard running the camp without you."

I nodded, "Yeah I will."

"Good luck!" she called to us as we made our way down the hall.

We headed to the exit of the camp and I saw Frank and Hazel out of the corner of my eye. I turned and waved to them for maybe the last time. They smiled and waved back.

"Good luck you guys!" they called to us.

"See you soon!" Jason yelled back.

Then our quest started.

**I hope I can update soon. I hate to leave you all hanging C:**

**Current time: 3:12 am**

**CRAP I have to wake up in four hours... UGHHHH why does school have to come back DX**

**FML!**

**Sweet Nightmares...**


	6. We're so Screwed

**I KNOW I KNOW, It's been a few days since my last update and I'm truly sorry for taking so long, BUT GUESS WHAT! 2 161 WORDS THIS TIME! TWICE AS MUCH AS I NORMALLY WRITE :D I hope this will be enough to keep you all satisfied for a few days as I will be very VERY busy.**

**Enjoy C:**

"Percy, Percy wake up," someone said as they shook me awake.

I batted them away and turned over.

"PERCY! We're getting off the bus soon!" Annabeth said loudly.

I reluctantly opened my eyes and indeed saw that we'd reached Redding.

"No way," I said in disbelief, "Nothing happened though!"

"Percy, don't question the miracle," Jason said.

I turned to face Annabeth and she shrugged, "It's a good thing isn't it?"

"Maybe," I said. It unsettled me deeply. Usually when I left camp monsters were on me so fast that I barely had time to prepare for them. That was most likely because I was Poseidon's son, but this time there were three of us and nothing had disturbed our first bus ride.

I looked out the window and saw normal pedestrians walking about. No signs whatsoever that a monster was around. I looked to the skies and saw seagulls and pigeons flapping about, competing for food. It was just a normal day.

Eventually we got to the bus terminal and we got out and searched for another bus that would take us to Medford, Oregon. We found one and bought tickets then waited to board. I looked around again, just in case, but still there was nothing out of place.

"Percy, don't worry," Annabeth told me. She linked her arm with mine and rested her head on my shoulder. I took a deep breath and tried to calm my nerves as I rested my head on hers.

Finally we were allowed to board. Annabeth and Jason went in first and I followed, taking one last glance around the place.

"Damn, that must hurt. How'd you bust your feet kid?" the bus driver asked, looking me up and down.

"I don't remember," I said, putting a confused expression on my face as I looked down at my bandaged feet.

"Percy over here, don't mind him he's still a bit disoriented from the accident," she told the driver.

Pretending to be a dazed car crash victim wasn't that hard to do. I stumbled to my seat and saw Jason snickering. I couldn't help but grin myself.

"This is hilarious," he said.

"Don't blow our cover," I told him, but I had to admit it was hard not to laugh.

Annabeth sat down next to us and smiled, "They're so gullible."

Jason and I stifled our laughs when an old lady got on board. I stiffened, recognising the face from years ago when I was twelve. She taught me pre-algebra.

"No way," I breathed.

"Percy what's wrong?" Annabeth asked as she studied my expression.

"Please don't tell me that's Alecto," I begged.

Annabeth turned and gasped, recognising the face as well.

"Wait, Alecto? Like Alecto the fury?" Jason asked, "She was your pre-algebra teacher?"

I nodded as I sunk lower into my seat, never taking my eyes off her. We were around the middle of the bus and she made her way down the aisle carefully, it seemed like she was looking for a particular seat and she found one that was five rows directly ahead of us.

"I knew it was too good to be true," I muttered.

"At least her sister's aren't here," Annabeth said quietly, but she spoke too soon as two others entered the bus looking exactly like Alecto and sat down beside their sister.

"Shit..." I said, "What can we do? We can't walk past them they'll see us."

"We'll have to act normal," Jason said, "Don't draw attention to ourselves."

"Yeah, that should be easy," I said sarcastically. There was no way that they wouldn't recognise us, well me and Annabeth at lest.

"Funny how we find them in a bus... again," Annabeth said.

"I know right," I said with a sigh. Eventually, minutes passed and no one else had boarded the bus. It left the terminal and got onto the highway, headed to Medford.

"We're screwed," I muttered, "There's no one else here to stop them from attacking us."

"Maybe they didn't notice us," Jason said, desperately trying to change reality.

"'Cmon get real, they're obviously here because of us. I wonder if Hades has anything to do with this," Annabeth said.

At the sound of their master's name, all three of them turned their heads to us and we froze.

"Shit," I said.

"Yeah they definitely after us," Jason said.

"What do we do?" I asked Annabeth desperately. She almost always had a plan or could at least figure one out in a matter of seconds.

"There's nothing we _can_ do," she said helplessly, "The bus is in motion so if one of us gets shoved through a window we'll turn into road kill. If we fight them we might injure or distract the driver which will most definitely cause a car crash."

"Well we can't just sit here!" Jason said.

They were already making their way down the aisle towards us.

"Hello _dear_ it's been so long since we last met," Alecto growled, her eyes fixed on me. They were transforming into their leathery forms and were preparing to pounce.

I quickly grabbed Riptide from my pocket and uncapped the pen while Jason flipped his coin and it turned into a sword. Annabeth drew her dagger and disappeared under her invisibility hat. Alecto growled, "You're not getting off easy this time _dear_."

Everything happened at once; the three furies leaped towards us, ready to kill, and Jason and I braced ourselves while Annabeth snuck around behind them. The bus driver seemed oblivious to all the commotion in the back and I wasn't about to yell at him to turn around and help.

Alecto aimed at me with her claws and I slashed at her with equal ferocity, trying to force her back towards the front of the bus. Annabeth had managed to take out one of Alecto's sisters as they crumbled to dust and Jason was busy with the other one. She continued to claw at me, forcing me towards the back of the bus.

"What does Hades want _this_ time?" I asked her as I blocked her claws from tearing my face apart.

"We're on our own this time," she said with an evil cackle, "We were bored and smelled your scent. We thought we'd have some fun even though there is that risk of perishing."

"Well don't look too soon but one of your sisters is gone," I said, pointing behind her.

Alecto whirled around to see the dust pile that once was her sister and she screeched, "You will pay for what you did to my sister!"

"You shouldn't have sought us out in the first place!" Annabeth yelled, her hat fell off and she was suddenly visible. Jason was having a hard time with the other fury and Annabeth managed to stab it in the back with her dagger.

Alecto screamed with rage and turned back to me, "I will kill you all for this! Even if I die doing so, at least you'll come down with me!" she said cackling. Instead of charging at me, she aimed straight for the bus driver.

"NO!" Annabeth yelled, but it was too late.

Alecto landed on him, no doubt breaking his neck, which caused him to slump over the wheel. The bus lurched to the right as we all fell over from the sudden movement. It hit another car and started to roll over, all of us were thrown about inside. I could hear Jason and Annabeth screaming as it gained momentum and started rolling faster. I understood how clothes felt in a washing machine, being thrown around cruelly without stopping, it was terrible. With reach roll, more glass shattered and more metal shrieked and groaned under the stress. The walls of the bus were being ripped apart. We stopped rolling, and the bus screeched to a stop. There was a louder screech of wheels and another crash that shook the bus. It skidded a bit further then stopped.

It was quiet except for the cars honking and the people yelling outside. I heard Annabeth's shallow breathing as she struggled to get up. My eyes were closed and I was lying face down with a weight holding me in place.

"Jason, Jason! Are you ok?" she asked.

"I think I broke something," he groaned.

"I think I did too, where's Percy?" she suddenly asked.

"Percy? Percy where are you?" Jason called.

It took a lot of effort just to open my eyes, my bruised body that had been healing was once again put through yet another terrible ordeal. The bus was upside down and I could see that many of the chairs had been ripped out of their places, no doubt they were scattered about on the highway. All the windows had shattered and glass was everywhere.

I tried to move but the weight held me down. I managed to raise my head and looked at myself to see that the car that collided with us had pinned me to the ceiling of the bus.

Unable to hold my head up for any longer I rested it on the ceiling and coughed a little as I tried to speak, but only a strangled sound came from me.

"Percy!" Annabeth cried, as she rushed over to me.

Jason tried to follow her but his face turned green when he tried to get up.

"Percy, can you hear me?" she asked loudly, her grey eyes bore into mine.

"Y-yeah I can," I managed to choke out.

"We have to get out of here before we get crushed," she said, looking up at the floor of the bus as it creaked, threatening to fall. It was easier said than done since Jason and I were unable to move.

In one big lurch, half of it crashed down on us and Jason managed to scramble his way towards us. The car holding me captive was the only thing that could hold up the rest of the bus if it were to fall down.

"Listen to me," I told them, "You need to get out and find help. I can't move with this stupid car on top of me."

"No I won't leave you!" Annabeth cried. The bus creaked and fell again, putting more weight on the car which crushed me further. I gasped as the sudden weight pushed the air out of my lungs.

"You have to go, quickly!" I yelled. A warm wetness started soaking my shirt and Annabeth gasped as she reached out her hand to find blood. Adrenaline coursed through me, my body was still in shock which saved me from the pain for the moment.

"Jason, can you stand at all?" I asked him.

"I don't know if I can, I think my leg is broken," he said miserably.

"Both of you try and get out, get help," I commanded them. I could hear the sirens of the ambulances in the distance, "Go! NOW!"

Annabeth reluctantly grabbed Jason's arms and dragged him out of the nearest window. Just as they got out, the bus groaned and completely collapsed and I head Annabeth's horrified scream. I shielded my face from the glass but I could do nothing about the increasing weight on top of me. I struggled to breath, and hoped that help would get here soon.

I felt light headed and dizzy as I finally heard the sirens blare loudly. Eventually they stopped and I heard the doors open and close as the paramedics got to work. The window that Annabeth had escaped out of had been reduced to a foot by foot hole, and a face managed to poke through.

It was a man, and he shone his flashlight into the wreckage. It blinded me as it hit my face dead on and I saw his startled expression. I blinked slowly.

"Can you hear me?" he called out.

I coughed and managed to move my arm towards him. I had barely enough air to speak, and I tried to move closer to him. I rasped, trying to speak.

"Guys, he's still alive in here!" he called out.

"PERCY!" I heard Annabeth yell.

"Just hold on," he told me, and his face disappeared.

The rest of their voices seemed distant and my eyes started to close. I heard a loud creaking noise and realized that they were prying the bus open, at a certain point the weight lifted somewhat and I could breath better. Eventually, the small hole became large enough for an adult to crawl into and the same guy as before came back in.

"Hey, we're going to help you ok? Percy is it?"

I nodded weakly, and took a deep breath.

"Can you move the car yet?" he called out to the others.

He had started jacking the car up which lifted the weight off me even more.

Finally I heard the creaking groan of the car above me being pulled out of the wreckage and I was finally free.

**WOOT! I feel very accomplished that I haven't written so much as this for just one chapter before ^_^ but at the same time, very guilty as I should be putting just as much effort into my homework -_-' and of course I have plenty of that... I hope to get another update up in three days at the most. If I can I might whip up a much shorter chapter if you guys want. **

**And one last thing: do you want a happy ending? Because I originally had a sad ending but my friend is very much enraged at my ideas and at me for being so sadistic with the characters... I can maybe possibly make an Alternate Ending if you guys want... maybe :)**

**Read and Review!**


	7. Saved

**HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY PPL OF FANFICTION :D I has been a PAINFULLY long time since my last update and I re-FUDGER! NOT A POWER OUTAGE NOW DX I WAS JUST ABOUT TO UPDATE SHITBUISCUTS DX **

**Current Time: 5:53 pm**

***SIGH* WHY OUT OF ALL TIMES WHY NOW DX Sorry for yet ANOTHER DELAY GUYS. I have no clue when the power will come back on grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr DX I'm trying really hard not to swear right now ARGE!**

**...SOMETIME LATER...**

***BAZAP!* :O YESSSSSSSSSSSS POWER IS BACK ON! XD **

**Current Time: 7:13 pm**

**FINALLY. :D**

I was blinded by the light that poured into the wreck after the car was removed. Freed from the crushing weight, I breathed in grateful that I could finally manage to get oxygen into my system.

"That's right, breath. In, out, in, out," the paramedic told me.

Still in shock, I felt nothing as he gently rolled my body over onto my back. He showed no sign of concern, though I knew there was a lot of be concerned about. I had no doubts that there was glass in my chest and broken or fractured bones in my body. I continued to breathe as normally as I could, though I could hear myself wheezing louder and louder with every breath.

The man proceeded to check my heart and lungs with his stethoscope which was cold against my skin. I coughed a bit and the same disgusting iron taste of blood filled my mouth but it didn't pour out this time. It simply teased me and reminded me of the frightening feeling of drowning.

"You definitely took quite a tumble but my friends and I will get you patched up, alright?" he said, trying to keep an optimistic tone.

I nodded and rested my hand on my torso, feeling the warm, sticky feeling of my own blood. I glanced around to see that it was everywhere, on the ceiling of the bus, the ground, the car and on the paramedic's gloves. It continued to seep through my clothes to add onto the puddle that was pooling around me.

I heard running footsteps and a shadow fell upon me, "Percy!" I heard Annabeth cry.

"Get her out of here," I heard the paramedic say, "I need a stretcher!"

I listened to Annabeth struggle against the people that restrained her and the rushing footsteps of more paramedics. The stretcher was shoved up next to me, and someone grabbed my legs as the paramedic inside the wreck with me gripped my shoulders. Together the two of them heaved me onto the stretcher and I was lifted out of the wreckage.

I could hear the gasps of the people who had gotten out of their cars to survey the accident as the two paramedics brought me out of the destroyed bus. They gawked and pointed at me, and I groaned. I hated the attention. I could hear them ask about my condition and it was at this moment that I wished I was invisible.

"It's ok, we're almost at the ambulance," the paramedic told me, I looked up at his face and I saw him smile kindly.

"Are my friends o-ok?" I asked.

"They're fine, Jason's leg is in a cast and your friend Annabeth has all her cuts stitched up. You're the one we have to worry about."

I coughed just as they lifted me into the ambulance and the rest was a blur. There were people shoving tubes into my body, injecting me with drugs, and someone placed an oxygen mask on my face. There were bandages layered over my torso to slow the bleeding and I felt exhaustion take a hold of me as my eyes started to droop.

I turned to see that the same man that had entered the bus to save me was in the same ambulance. He saw me looking at him and smiled at me.

"I'm Charlie by the way," he said.

I nodded weakly, knowing that if I tried to speak nothing would come out but I tried anyway and managed a breathy "Thank you."

"You're friends are in the ambulance behind us so don't worry," Charlie told me.

I relaxed; glad to know that Annabeth and Jason were alright, "You can stop lying to me now," I told him, "I know it's worse than you're trying to make it seem."

He stared at me, taken aback from what I'd said. It was true though, I'd gone through much worse than this "tumble" and I wasn't going to let anyone convince me that it was just a scratch.

Charlie sighed, "It is pretty bad kid. I'm surprised you can even talk right now."

"I've been through w-worse," I told him.

"Oh really now? Like what?" he asked, lifting an eyebrow.

I shook my head, "It's too hard to explain."

I was vaguely aware of the tingling that I felt in my fingertips. The shock was wearing off and I could feel the sting of glass in my chest. My voice became thick from the pain that throbbed in my body.

I groaned, "Oww..."

Vertigo swept over me as the ambulance swerved through traffic. Thankfully I was strapped into the stretcher and I didn't fall off. I coughed and spluttered as more blood rushed into my mouth. Charlie wiped it away with a cloth, "Almost there, just hold on..."

I rasped as I struggled to catch my breath. The sudden coughing fit exhausted my lungs and it felt like I had the crushing weight on top of me again. Suddenly the whole ambulance lurched forwards as we came to a halt. The doors were thrown open and I saw three doctors swarm over me as they announced my current status.

"Car crash victim, male, age eighteen, suffers from several broken bones and internal bleeding-" one of them read off a clipboard. He was a man, tall and around thirty. He had blond hair and was oddly familiar, like an older version of someone I knew.

"Name?" another asked, interrupting him.

"We've only got a first name, Percy. He's got a pretty bad concussion, and glass imbedded in his chest," he continued.

I kept looking back and forth between them all which made my head spin and the movement of the stretcher added to the vertigo.

"It's alright, be still," one of them said. I looked up at her and she smiled sympathetically back at me, "You're awful quiet for someone went through so much," she observed.

"Nicky," her friend said, elbowing her, "You don't say that. Don't mind her she's new here," she explained.

"I'm just saying Sarah..." Nicky said, shrugging her shoulders.

I tried to speak but when I breathed in, a stabbing pain in my chest made my breath catch in my throat and I let out a quiet scream.

"No time for the ER, he needs an operating room NOW," the man said.

They quickened their pace and we entered a dimly lit room. A bright light attacked my eyes and I tried to shield them with my hands, but someone with a masked face pulled them away and turned the light so it wasn't shining in my face.

"It's alright Percy, I'll get you fixed up soon," I recognised the voice from the blond man I saw earlier.

I looked over to see an assistant inject a tube that was running into my arm with some sort of milky liquid. Another put a mask on my face, "Breathe deeply," she told me.

I did do and looked into the man's eyes. I swore I knew him from somewhere.

"Apollo?" I asked, my vision was starting to get blurry and his face went out of focus.

"It's ok Percy Jackson..."

And all went dark.

**WELL THERE YOU HAVE IT. I have no clue when my next update will be. I got lucky today since I had a snow day at school :D But I have exams coming up next week so it might be a while until my next update unfortunately :( HOPFULLY this will satisfy you all for the moment... I spent the entire day struggling with this chapter instead of doing homework... BAD BAD BAD KAT. It's not my best chapter... and I'm not really happy with it but it'll have to do :P**

**SWEET NIGHTMARES, and memento mori...**

**Dunno what it means? Look it up. **


	8. Not your Fault

**HEY GUYS :D Long time no see eh? I know I know, I shoulda updated earlier but I've been busy keeping up with school -_-' BUT. I have a two week break coming up so I'll be able to write up a few more chapters then! I know I promised three more chapters next time I updated but I have the next one already halfway through C: **

**One thing though, I will be off on a grand journey with my friends for the first week of my 2 week break so I won't be updating anytime then since I can't bring my laptop (BOOHOO SOBSOB CRYCRY) which I know, is very tragic. :'C**

**BUT I still have a few days until I leave and I hope to get three chapters up :D**

**Agh darnit but I have two tests this week... ahh screw it you guys are more important C: I'm not gonna use any chemistry formulas or add any info about canada's freakishly boring history in this story -_-'**

**Enjoy C:**

I find that painkillers don't really work on me. I mean I guess they can dull the pain a bit but I still felt all the aches when I woke. My face was sore from being in a grimace in my unconscious state and I moaned.

"Percy?" a voice said, but it was distant and muffled.

I coughed and slowly opened my eyes, and immediately shock took me.

Everything was blurry. I blinked and it improved slightly, but I still couldn't make out the faces in front of me.

"Percy are you ok?" the same voice asked, louder this time yet still muffled.

I turned towards the voice and saw the blurry image of Annabeth. Blinking desperately, her image finally focused as I squinted at her.

"Hey, can you hear me Percy?" she asked, gently holding my face.

I let my head flop into her hand. I was still groggy from the operation and she smiled sadly at me as she went in and out of focus. I saw Jason slumped in a chair in the background. His head rested on his chest and his broken leg, now bound tightly in a proper cast, was stuck out, threatening to trip anyone who walked into the room. Crutches were leaned against the wall and I saw that a new pair of forearm crutches where there for me. I had a feeling that the ones Chiron had given me were somewhere on the highway and most likely shrapnel.

I looked back at Annabeth's face and saw that tears streamed silently down her cheeks. My eyebrows knit together and I lifted a weak, shaking hand to wipe them away.

"D-don't cry," I said quietly because that's as loud as I could speak without having to breathe too deeply.

"I'm just s-so glad that you're alive," she said as her voice shook and she managed a smile.

I managed a breathy laugh that turn into a cough and smiled back, "I can't die yet."

"This is my fault," she said, sobbing.

"It most certainly is NOT," I told her firmly.

"But if I hadn't called out to you during the attack at camp you wouldn't have-"

"Annabeth, don't you DARE blame yourself for this," I told her, frustration was starting to build up inside me. Everyone always tried to blame themselves, "It isn't your fault ok?" I said softly, managing a small smile.

Jason snorted loudly and woke with a start. He looked around the room, seeming lost until he remembered where he was and what had happened. His gaze found me and Annabeth at my bed and he struggled to get up. Grabbing his crutches he hobbled his way over to us and sat down on a chair opposite to Annabeth.

"Glad to see you awake buddy," he said grinning.

"I'm glad that the two of you are ok."

"I'm glad that all three of you are ok," a man's voice said.

Simultaneously, we turned our gaze to the doorway where a doctor stood.

"Apollo?" I asked, unsure because I was used to seeing him around my age and not thirty. I sat up, using my bandaged arms to hold up my torso.

He grinned and tucked his clipboard under his arm as he made his way over to us and Annabeth furiously wiped away her tears.

"Indeed Percy. That was some crash you were in."

"Tell me about it," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Well I managed to get all the glass and shrapnel out of you," he continued and from his pocket he took out a small jar filled to the brim with small glass shards and bits of metal.

"That was _inside_ me?" I asked, shocked.

"Yup. We had to double check like five times before we were absolutely sure there was none left."

I stared, dumbfounded that so much had gotten into my system and I swallowed uneasily.

"You ok Percy?" Annabeth asked, I turned and faced her.

"Y-yeah I'm fine."

I lowered my eyes from their gaze, not knowing what else to do as a moment of silence fell upon us, and I felt three sets of eyes on me. Immediately an uncomfortable, tight feeling settled in my chest. I forced out a cough to try and get rid of it but it only increased which started a small coughing fit.

"Percy?" she said uneasily, gingerly putting her hand on my shoulder.

Though it only lasted a few seconds it exhausted my lungs and left me wheezing and lightheaded. I swayed as my head reeled and I fell back into the pillows. The impact against the pillow sent pain throbbing through my tender, beaten skull. I noticed as I blinked groggily that my eyesight was getting blurry and out of focus again. The worried voices of my friends became distant and muffled and I panicked.

I tried the fight the dark, reddish hue that was seeping into the edges of my eyesight but it was too much as the throbbing in my head became too much and I succumbed to the darkness.

"I'm sorry..." I whispered.

**:O OMFG WHAT HAPPENED? DID HE DIE? Muahahaaaa... **

**Find out tomorrow and you'll see C: There's for sure going to be another chapter tomorrow.**

**Current time: 4:15 am**

**Yesh, I stayed up this late to please you all. I hope you're happy. BECAUSE I SURE AM :D and Kat is never happy... nono Kat is always thinking about unhappy things... BAD BAD PESSIMISTIC KAT! STOP BEING SO APATHETIC!**

**Ahem... sorry bout THAT o.o soooooooooooooooooooooo stay tuned :D and please review I love reading them c: **

**sweet nightmares dearest friends... **


	9. Warning

**Okokok I KNOW this isn't the exact day after but just be lucky I managed to get another chapter up before I disappear for a week and a half. YES I LEAVE TOMORROW and you all have no idea how freakishly excited I am :D I LOVE traveling by plane. It's so much fun ^_^ and with all my friends too!**

**As soon as I get back I'll whip up another chapter for you all.**

**Enjoy! C:**

I was peacefully floating through empty space until the terrifying feeling of falling interrupted this sensation of serenity and I jerked awake. Immediately I was confused, it was still dark, but why? I was on the floor and I slowly sat up, craning my neck around trying to see if I could figure out where I was. The entire place was completely dark except for my glowing body. I stared down at my hands and noticed how slightly transparent I was.

"Am I dead?" I asked out loud.

"Oh not at all," a voice said.

I froze and the hairs on my neck stood straight up as my skin crawled. Slowly, I turned my torso around to see an incredibly familiar face.

"Hera," I hissed, "What have you done this time? Where are we?"

"What have I done? Oh absolutely nothing, as to where we are? I do believe we're in your mind," she concluded.

"What happened? I was in the hospital and now..."

"Bah, you just passed out," she said lazily and waved me away like some sort of servant as she turned around.

I glared at her back, making sure that my mind was in check and not insulting her. Though I would've had plenty to say, I couldn't risk becoming a pile of ashes.

"If this is my mind, what are_ you_ doing here?" I asked, slowly standing up. Apparently being inside of my mind didn't change anything with my injuries, everything still hurt like a bitch and I groaned as my stiff joints complained.

"I don't know, there was nothing else to do I suppose," Hera sighed. I watched her, never letting my eyes stray from her back.

I grumbled, knowing full well that there was something on her mind that related to me. She simply stood there for what felt like hours with her back to me when all of a sudden she turned and faced me, making me jump from her sudden movement.

"Don't screw up the future Percy," she said. Her eyes were cold and menacing unlike before when she was more teasing.

And then she just disappeared. Poof. Gone. Vanished. I stood there for a while, wondering what to do and what would happen next. Eventually I gave into my fatigue and sat down, gripping my still throbbing head and tried to process what had just happened. Hera was most definitely up to something; did she have something to do with the camp we were heading to?

To my horror the floor disappeared and I was falling again. When I woke up though I was back in my hospital bed and the light above me blinded my eyes, burning my retinas. I looked around and those black blotches that you see after staring at a light were dancing around my vision which made it hard for me to focus. I felt a mask on my face covering my mouth and nose and cool oxygen flowing into my lungs. It was soothing.

I feebly coughed, trying to avoid yet another coughing fit and tried to focus my eyes on something. I could hear voices talking softly coming from outside the room and I turned my head in their direction. My eyesight frustrated me, going in and out of focus which made me feel dizzy. All I could make out was three blurry figures in the doorway.

"Oh he's awake now," I heard Apollo's voice say.

I watched as his figure moved towards and me and his face became somewhat clearer.

"Hey, can you hear me?" he asked.

I stared at him for a moment, waiting for my eyes to actually focus as they were still acting wonky.

"Percy? Can-you-hear-me?" he asked a little louder this time and he paused between each word, as if trying to speak to a toddler.

"Yeah..." I croaked; my throat hurt like something had scraped down it with sharp claws.

"You went into cardiac arrest and stopped breathing," he explained.

"Huh..." I said quietly, and then I remembered, "I saw Hera."

Apollo's eyes widened at my sudden change of tone, "What did she want?"

"I don't know but she told me not to screw up the future."

"Best be careful Percy, she's a sneaky one," he warned.

I saw Annabeth and Grover waiting awkwardly in the door fame. Apollo followed my gaze and waved them in with a smile.

"You scared the shit out of me kelp head," Annabeth teased, I could see the smile she was trying to hide.

"How long until he's ok to travel?" Jason asked Apollo.

"We'll let him rest today. With some nectar and ambrosia he should be fine to check out tomorrow."

"Good because we need to get going," Annabeth said, studying a folded map she got from her back pocket.

I settled down into the sheets of the bed as Annabeth continued to explain our next route. I sort of half listened as my eyes started drooping and my breathing slowed. I was just about to fall asleep when someone burst into the room.

"Percy! We found you!"

**OMFG WHO IS IT? Even I don't know yet XD I'll figure that out later, any suggestions as to who you think should join this quest? Put them in your reviews! I always read them C: every single one so don't think I won't read it. I love reading your reviews cuz I like to hear from my audience C: you don't even need to post an opinion, think of it as "the comments" **

**Current time: 12:55 am**

**Yes this is EXTREMELY early for me to go to sleep but I need to be awake for my trip later on today :D ONLY FEW MORE HOURS XD ^_^**

**So, I shall see you all in a week and I hope to see a few reviews in "the comments" ;)**

**Sweet nightmares ...**


	10. Complications and Realizations

Wow… 9 months… damn am I mean.

Before you all kill me, let me explain myself.

Yeah, I know I was supposed to continue writing after I came home from my trip. The thing is, once you ditch a habit for like a week and a half it's kind of difficult to get back into it.

I've also been working on A LOT of original work. I have a novel about the Mad Hatter going with a few chapters complete and I have to keep working on that because I have a really complex plot with it and I need to keep it all fresh in my mind. I've been writing a lot of poetry too, if you want to check them out I've posted a few on my tumblr: themangochild

There's also this thing called writer's block that I'm sure you've heard about. When I came home I had SERIOUS writer's block and it got worse over the summer. I had such big plans over the summer full of writing and art, but my creativity seemed to be completely depleted.

I know this is sounding like a lot of excuses and it was completely unacceptable of me to completely ditch you guys for 9 months… that's long enough to grow a baby… ew…

Anyways it's not just these things that have been getting in the way. I'm in my third year of high school, grade 11. This is where marks are _insanely_ important and after last year, I really need to get my butt in gear. If I'm going to try writing updates they'll probably take longer and be shorter. I know, it sucks but it's the best I can do and I can't make any promises but I'll try to keep updating when I can.

This was my last week of school before the winter holidays and it has been the most draining week of my entire existence. Watching probably the most influential person in my life slowly deteriorate in a hospital bed has screwed with both my emotional and mental state and I've had to mature quite a bit. It's strange to think he used to fly a fighter plane, nearly dying on several occasions, and the things that take him down in the end turn out to be pancreatic and prostate cancer. As if things couldn't get worse for him he had a heart attack followed by a stroke a few days ago, leaving him paralyzed in his left side. When I went to visit him it was the most terrifying sight that I'd ever had the horror to lay my eyes upon. It's hard, seeing him like this and until this all plays out to the bitter end that is inevitably coming, I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update.

But! It's winter break; I have three weeks to maybe get some writing done. I want to write one for Rise of the Guardians but I know I have to finish the ones I've got going now.

This is all I've managed to write for you guys. I'll see if I can update tomorrow. I'm going to see a play with my family C:

I'm pretty excited, we've never gone to see a play before. In fact we don't get out much in general….

Anyways, enjoy this little snippet and once again, I apologize for keeping you all hanging like this.

**...**

Dread seeped into the pit of my stomach as I saw Frank and Hazel make their way to my bedside. I sighed, exasperated and my eyelids drooped.

"Dude, what the hell happened?" Frank asked as he studied me, his eyes widening at the sight of all the gauze and bandages that covered me. I looked like a badly wrapped mummy.

"Oh our bus just crashed, no biggie," I replied, looking at them with half opened eyes. I'd tried so hard to keep them out of this, but no. Naturally they just have to come running after me. "You guys shouldn't be here," I breathed, letting my head loll to the right and I closed my tired eyes.

"How did you find us?" Annabeth asked, peering out from behind the map.

"Hera told us where you guys were," Hazel said.

"Dammit Hera," I whispered, too exhausted to talk. I didn't need more distractions like Frank and Hazel. If it weren't for the ambrosia and nectar I'd probably be a corpse by now and these injuries were just slowing us down. Oh, and of course there's the poison that seemed to have disappeared completely. I hadn't felt any of the symptoms since we started this quest which left me suspicious.

I bet this whole dilemma was Hera trying to keep me out of the picture. Annabeth, Jason, and I had become known for nosing about in quests and the fate of the world much to Grover's discomfort. We just wanted to know if we could stop things from getting bad to worse. We wanted to freaking _help,_ but I had a feeling that Hera was up to something that the other gods wouldn't approve of.

"What did she tell you?" Jason asked.

"That you guys needed help and the hospital you were all in," Frank replied.

"I think she sent you guys after us to see if you could make me change my mind in finishing this quest," I said quietly.

"Why? I thought you guys were just going to try and find the camp? Or is there more to this quest that you're not telling us?" Hazel asked. I opened my eyes to be met by her piercing gaze.

"Yes, there's more," I breathed.

"Percy, are you sure we should tell them?" Jason asked, his eyes darted back and forth from me to Hazel and back again.

"They'll find out eventually," I said. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Annabeth biting her lip, her eyes staring off into space and I could practically hear the gears in her brain working on over drive.

Grover was standing in the corner and I noticed he was avoiding eye contact with everyone. This was strange, he had never been this timid around us, his friends, but then the realization hit me.

Grover never came on the quest with us…

…**..**

It wasn't until I reread the last chapter did I notice I accidentally threw Grover in there. _oops…_

So I guess I'll have to do something about that. I'm actually surprised you all didn't catch onto that. What do you guys have in mind? Any ideas you want to throw in? Also regular reviews or private messages will help motivate me to keep writing, I sometimes forget until I get a review and I mentally slap myself for not working on it.

I'm also willing (after I finish this of course) to take on requests for oneshots. If you have an idea that you'd like to be turned into a story go ahead and message me and I'll see what I can do C: These will be strictly oneshots so please don't ask for more… because I'll probably end up writing more and then ditching it like I did with this one.

It's 3:01 am and I'm going to go to sleep now. I got 2 hours of sleep the other night, not fun…

-Memento mori and Sweet Nightmares-


	11. Eavesdropping

My gaze met with Grover's and he brought a finger to his lips, "This is just part of the empathy link Percy. No! Don't speak;" he said suddenly, before I could say anything, "Only I can talk to you. They'll think you're hallucinating if you talk to me and the psychiatric wards are really scary places. Trust me; you don't wanna go down there."

"Chiron sent me to see if Hazel and Frank were with you, they disappeared from camp the day after you guys left. I'm glad they found you," he said, turning his gaze to them. "I have to go soon, and yeah I know this should be in a dream but desperate times call for desperate measures," he replied when he saw my perplexed expression.

"Percy, what are you staring at?" Hazel asked as she waved a hand in front of my face.

"Good luck, and stay safe Percy!" Grover said and he disappeared.

I blinked and shook my head, "I'm sorry, what?"

"What are you staring at?" she repeated, "You've been staring into space for the past five minutes. It's like you completely shut us out."

"N-nothing, just thinking," I said quickly.

Hazel stared at me, her eyes narrowed and _man_ was I getting tired of her trying to get the truth from me.

"Hazel please stop it. I'm tired… So… so tired…" I breathed. It was getting more difficult to keep my eyes open.

She pursed her lips and crossed her arms, "That's no excuse. You've been lying to us-"

"I never lied. I just didn't tell you the whole story," I interrupted through clenched teeth as the throbbing got worse, the narcotics were wearing off and I struggled to stifle a groan.

"Well then what's the whole story?" she demanded, "I don't like not knowing things Percy."

"Percy are you _sure_ we should tell them?" Annabeth asked, her worried gaze met mine and I nodded.

"I'm dying," I said bluntly and I winced as the pain got worse.

"From poison," Annabeth added before Hazel could ask.

I saw their sombre expressions and I sighed, "We have a plan though," I said in an attempt to change the hopeless mood that was settling.

"Fat lot of good it's done us so far," Jason snapped, "We're getting tossed around like rag dolls."

It was at that moment when I yelped as agony flared through my chest like fire and I doubled over, gasping. My heart ached as its beating picked up speed, the monitor sped up with it and coughs ripped through my throat as I struggled for breath.

"Percy! You ok?" Annabeth asked, rushing to my bedside and Jason quickly sat up in his chair.

Hazel on the other hand backed away, her eyes widened and she reached for Frank's arm, "Don't ever get poisoned," she whispered.

"Good… plan," I told her between coughs, "Try to stick… to it."

The familiar metallic taste was on my tongue when the attack finished and I looked down to my hand to see it splattered with red. Wonderful…

"I'm getting Apollo," Annabeth said at the sight of my blood and she promptly left the room.

I fell back against the pillows, gasping for breath. Each rasp was a stab of pain and I could feel my fingers tingling.

"Don't die, oh my gods please don't die," Hazel begged.

"No not yet," I wheezed with a flinch.

"Bit of ambrosia and a sip of nectar ought to do the trick," Apollo said as he practically glided into the room with the food and drink of the gods.

He handed me the white plastic cup and bent the bendy straw to make it easier for me. I emptied it in seconds, and before I could say anything a square of ambrosia was shoved into my open mouth by Annabeth.

"That's so much!" Frank exclaimed, "Won't he die?!"

"Percy's a special case," Apollo said, "He needs to take it regularly if he's going to keep the poison at bay."

I rolled my eyes. Yes, I was ALWAYS a special case, being a demigod of "The Big Three". Lucky, _lucky_ me.

"Oh yeah I feel real blessed to be so special," I said with as much sarcasm I could muster.

"Don't be like that," Annabeth said, "You're special to me, alright?"

I smiled apologetically and leaned into her touch as she ran her fingers through my hair.

"How're you feeling now?" Apollo asked as he checked the monitors.

"Much better… bit sleepy though," I yawned.

"Get some rest then. If you're feeling up do it, maybe I'll let you leave in a few hours," Apollo said as he left the room.

I let my eyes flutter shut and my breathing deepened, feigning sleep for as long as I could and though I still wheezed a bit it didn't hurt to breathe anymore. Disappointment washed over me when I felt Annabeth's hand retreat but I remained still, eager to eavesdrop.

"So… he's dying," Frank stated.

"_No… Really? Thanks for helping me establish that I had no idea."_ I mused.

"Yes, he's getting worse every minute that passes by. Chiron said around a week is all he has left, but hopefully the nectar and ambrosia can give us a bit more time," I heard Annabeth explain.

"How did it happen?" Hazel asked.

"When those demigods attacked camp. He got pushed off a cliff by the leader of the enemy and he injected Percy with some sort of god worthy poison. All we know about an antidote for it is that you have to have it first to get the poison. So whoever got him must have it," Jason said, "The easier way to fix all this is to turn him into a god."

Hazel snorted, "Yeah that's not an option with Zeus as stubborn as an ox."

Everyone fell silent, waiting for the thunder to roll but there was nothing. Not even the tiniest hint of a thunderstorm brewing. Something had Zeus' attention.

…

I would've updated earlier but things have gotten pretty complicated lately with funeral plans.


End file.
